Kat's Film Reviews: Velvet Goldmine

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Velvet Goldmine

As hallucinations go, this is a good one. Your first clue is the UFO dropping the infant Oscar Wilde at the doorstep of his adopted parents. Don't run away! Roll your eyes at the first 7 or so minutes and then open them wide and hold onto your seat. As the introductory screen tells you -- this might be fiction, but it's based on reality, so turn it up. A thinly veiled account of the stars of glam rock in England in the 70s, with obvious references to David Bowie and Iggy Pop and the whole bi-sexual nature of that world. If you're turned off by men kissing or being overtly flamboyant, this isn't for you. But you'll be missing bizarre music videos, Ewan McGregor in his altogether, and one of the steamiest stage scenes ever filmed. Gives a whole new meaning to guitar licks... Anyway, it's too bad that the film loses its oomph towards the end, as the plot peters out and inconsistencies creep in. It's really a poor man's Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which is interesting since it was filmed several years before that fabulous film. (Todd Haynes is, however, thanked in the credits to Hedwig, so perhaps John Cameron Mitchell was interested in Haynes' lessons learned.) The three main actors give it their all, with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as the stand-out. He's what I would label a scary actor because he consistently seems to be flirting on the edge of sanity (see him in Titus if you don't believe me). Christian Bale is his usual babe-li-cious self (sorry, I adore his acting, but there's no getting around the fact that he's a beautiful boy) and Ewan McGregor is fantastic in his stage scenes (although I wasn't completely convinced in his love scenes). See it not for the weak plotting, but for scenes that will be indelibly imprinted on your brain for days and days and days...

year: 1998
length: 124 min.
rating: 3.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120879/combined

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